Hughes, Anthony George ('Tony')
Hughes, Anthony George ('Tony') (1928–2007), musician and university professor, was born 6 July 1928, in south Dublin, the son of George Hughes, an optical technician, and his wife Lilian (née Jones); he had three younger sisters. Brought up in Donore Road, off the South Circular…...
Hynes, (Oliver) Jerome (Morley)
Hynes, (Oliver) Jerome (Morley) (1959–2005), theatre and festival manager, and arts administrator, was born 30 September 1959 at St John of God nursing home, Ballymote, Co. Sligo, one of two sons and two daughters of Oliver P. Hynes (c.1920–2004), vocational teacher, and his…...
Inglis, Liam (William English)
Inglis, Liam (William English) (1709–78), Augustinian priest and Jacobite poet, was born either in Newcastle, Co. Limerick, or in Co. Tipperary. Although little light can be shed on his parentage or early years, Risteard Ó…...
Iremonger, Valentin
Iremonger, Valentin (1918–91), poet and diplomat, was born 14 February 1918 at 96 Sandymount Road, Dublin, eldest among four children of John Iremonger (1887–1947), sculptor of monuments, and his wife Annie Murphy (1887–1950), shopkeeper. Christened Valentine, he dropped the last ‘e’…...
Johnson, Lionel Pigot
Johnson, Lionel Pigot (1867–1902), poet and critic, was born 15 March 1867 at Broadstairs, Kent, third son of William Johnson (1822–91), captain in the 90th Regiment of light infantry, and Catherine Johnson (née Walters). His paternal great-grandfather was …...
Jordan, John Edward
Jordan, John Edward (1930–88), writer, actor, academic, and broadcaster, was born 8 April 1930 in Dublin, eldest of two sons and a daughter of John Anthony Jordan, cooper at Guinness's brewery, and Mary Agnes Jordan (née Byrne), born of Irish parents in Jarrow, England; both of Parkview…...
Joyce, (John) Stanislaus
Joyce, (John) Stanislaus (1884–1955), brother and supporter of James Joyce (qv), was born 17 December 1884 in Dublin, son of John Stanislaus Joyce (qv), civil servant…...
Joyce, Patrick Weston
Joyce, Patrick Weston (1827–1914), educationalist, historian, linguist, translator and collector of folk music, was born in Ballyorgan, Co. Limerick, one of the eight sons of Garrett Joyce, a shoemaker known locally as ‘Garrett the Scholar’ for his knowledge of poetry and religion, and…...
Kavanagh, Patrick Joseph
Kavanagh, Patrick Joseph (1904–67), poet, novelist, and journalist, was born 21 or 23 October 1904 at the family home in the townland of Mucker, Inniskeen parish, Co. Monaghan, the elder son and fourth of ten children of James Kavanagh, cobbler, and his wife, Bridget (née Quinn) of…...
Kavanagh, Peter Paul
Kavanagh, Peter Paul (1916–2006), writer and critic, was born 19 March 1916 in Mucker, Iniskeen, Co. Monaghan, youngest of ten children of James Kavanagh, shoemaker and small farmer, and his wife Bridget (née Quinn). His godfather was his elder brother, the poet…...
Keane, John B.
Keane, John B. (1928–2002), writer, humorist, and publican, was born 21 July 1928 at Church St., Listowel, Co. Kerry, fourth child among five sons and four daughters of William Keane and Hannah Keane (née Purtill). The initial ‘B.’ stood for Brendan, a name taken on confirmation after…...
Kearney, Peadar
Kearney, Peadar (1883–1942), revolutionary and song-writer, was born 12 December 1883 in Dorset St., Dublin, eldest of three sons and three daughters of John Kearney, grocer and businessman, and Katie Kearney (née McGuinness). Christened Peter Paul Kearney, he was educated at the…...
Kelly, John Maurice
Kelly, John Maurice (1931–91), scholar, politician, and writer, was born 31 August 1931 in Dublin, eldest of three sons of Joseph Kelly, chief executive officer of the Agricultural Credit Corporation, from Co. Kerry, and May Kelly (née Boyle), civil servant, from Co. Mayo. John Kelly…...
Kelly, Thomas Christopher (‘T. C.’)
Kelly, Thomas Christopher (‘T. C.’) (1917–85), composer and music teacher, was born in December 1917 in Wexford town, the fifth of six children of James Kelly, baker, and Margaret Kelly (née Redmond). His schooling took place at the local …...
Kenealy, William
Kenealy, William (1828–76), journalist, poet, and nationalist, was born 1 July 1828 in Cloyne, Co. Cork, the son of a blacksmith and farmer. He worked as a teacher and was appointed headmaster of Churchtown national school, but was dismissed when authorship of an inflammatory…...
Kenny, Kevin John
Kenny, Kevin John (1881–1954), advertising pioneer, commercial manager and publisher, was born on 22 June 1881 at 12 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin, one of eight children of Michael C. Kenny, a lithographic printer and Fenian, and Catherine Kenny (née Fleming), a book-folder (cloth…...
Kickham, Charles Joseph
Kickham, Charles Joseph (1828–82), journalist, Fenian, and novelist, was born 8 May 1828 near Cashel, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of the four sons and four daughters of John Kickham, draper and urban property rentier, and his wife, Anne (née Mahony), of Mullinahone in the same…...
Kiely, Benedict ('Ben')
Kiely, Benedict ('Ben') (1919–2007), writer, critic and journalist, was born Thomas Joseph Benedict Kiely near Dromore, Co. Tyrone, on 15 August 1919, the sixth and youngest child of Thomas Kiely, a British army veteran and measurer for the Ordnance Survey (born in Moville, Co. Donegal…...
King, Jeremiah
King, Jeremiah (1868–1927), historian, printer, and publisher, was born 11 February 1868 in Groin, in the parish of Aghadoe, Co. Kerry, elder of two sons of Laurence King, carpenter, of Currow, and Ellen King (née Counihan), farmer, of Madam's Height, Groin. Early in King's life…...
Leamy, Edmund
Leamy, Edmund (1848–1904), writer, politician, and lawyer, was born 25 December 1848 in Waterford city. Educated at University High School, Waterford, St John's College, Waterford, and St Stanislaus College in Tullabeg, he was admitted a solicitor in 1878 and called to the Irish…...
Leathley, Mary Elizabeth Southwell (née Dudley)
Leathley, Mary Elizabeth Southwell (née Dudley) (1818–99), writer, was born 18 June 1818 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of George Dudley, a member of the Society of Friends. She published her first book when she was sixteen, and subsequently became a prolific writer of…...
Ledwidge, Francis Edward
Ledwidge, Francis Edward (1887–1917), poet and soldier, was born 19 August 1887 at Janeville, Slane, Co. Meath, eighth among nine children of Patrick Ledwidge (1840/41–1892), farm labourer, and his wife, Anne (1853/4–1926), daughter of Nicholas Lynch of Slane. The Ledwidges (the name is…...
Leslie, John Randolph (‘Shane’)
Leslie, John Randolph (‘Shane’) (1885–1971), writer and lecturer, was born in London on 24 September 1885 and christened John Randolph a few weeks later at Castle Leslie, Co. Monaghan. His father, Sir John Leslie, second baronet, was an extensive landowner in Monaghan and Donegal…...
Locke, Josef
Locke, Josef (1917–99), singer and entertainer, was born Joseph McLaughlin 23 March 1917 at 19 Creggan St., Derry city, one of ten children of Patrick McLaughlin, butcher and cattle dealer, and Annie McLaughlin (née Doherty). Educated by the Christian Brothers and awarded for his…...
Logan, Michael J. (Ó Lócháin, Micheál)
Logan, Michael J. (Ó Lócháin, Micheál) (1836–99), editor, publisher, and ‘father of the Gaelic language movement’ in America (Ford, 1899), was born 29 September 1836 at Currach Doire (Curraghderry), Baile an Mhuilinn (Milltown), near Tuam, Co. Galway, son of Patrick Logan, a small…...